Norvic Philatelics

New Machin definitive & Country stamps - 27 March 2013

Royal Mail announced its annual stamp
price rises in early March and they take effect from 2 April 2013.
The rate for 1st class stamps is no longer subject to control by
the official government regulator (Ofcom) and Royal Mail have been
allowed to raise the price of 2nd class mail well above the rate of
inflation.

Following the huge rises in 2012, Royal Mail have announced that he price
of 1st and 2nd class letters will remain unchanged at 60p and
50p; the price of Large Letters also remains unchanged at all
weight-steps. The inland 'Signed For' fee rises from 95p to £1.10
and two new stamps will be issued branded ROYAL MAIL SIGNED FOR instead of
Recorded Signed For.

The current 87p airmail rate for worldwide postcards, 10g letters
Worldwide and 20g letters to Europe increases to 88p with a new
Machin definitive and new Country definitive stamps.

The current £1.28 rate for Europe to 40g and Worldwide 20g letters remains
unchanged.

The Worldwide 40g letter rate is reduced
from £1.90 to £1.88 (so a new
stamp).

The category previously known as Small Packets up to 100g is now referred
to as Small Parcels up to 100g. The prices increase from £2.70 to £3
Europe and from £3.30 to £3.50 rest of the World.

Airmail rates over 100g are reduced to 8 steps of 250g, replacing 21
steps. This means some complicated changes, some up some down.
Whilst the current rates to Europe are £2.93 (150g), £3.16 (200g) &
£3.39 (250g) these all rise to £3.50 for 250g.

Royal Mail Tallents House have
told subscribers that these stamps will not be delivered until 12
April, and that FDCs may be sent to handstamp centres until 24
April. We understand that supplies of all relevant stamps will be
in Post Office Branches on the issue date, but that there may not be any
presentation packs or stamp cards at that time.

Pre-issue images of the new stamps for 2013

The NVIs are Flame with a Yellow Flash. This is a surprise
as we expected that they would change to Royal Mail Red, the same
as the ordinary 1st class definitives.

We've been told unofficially that these are printed by Cartor
on one primary sheet of eight grid positions, five grid
positions for England, one each for Scotland, Northern Ireland,
and Wales in sheets of 25.

Technical information

Preliminary information was that all the new Machin
definitive stamps are be self-adhesive, printed by De La Rue in gravure in
sheets of 25, with 12 sheets of 25 per cylinder. They will have security
cuts and the irridescent overprint.

However, a week before the stamps are due to be issued we still haven't
received our supplies. As reported last
year, De La Rue are in the process of moving their stamp production
facilities from Dunstable to Gateshead and we understand that production
of the new stamps has been shared between Walsall Security Printers,
Cartor Security Printing, and Joh Enschede. As far as we know Cartor
have no gravure facilities and we understand that the Signed For stamps
are being printed by them in litho. Unfortunately Royal Mail have
been unable to confirm any details, even though the stamps are in many
post office branches already.

The Country definitives will be
litho printed on ordinary gummed paper by Cartor Security Print also in
sheets of 25. They will have no security features.

Special postmarks available on the day of issue will be shown
here.

Postmarks
in use this year are the same design as 2012, but with the date
27.3.2013

Ref FD1303TH -
official pictorial FDI Windsor postmark

Ref FD1303PL - official pictorial FDI Tallents House postmark

Ref FD1303NP - official pictorial FDI London postmark

Ref FD1307PL - official pictorial FDI London postmark

Ref FD13078PL- official pictorial FDI Edinburgh postmark

Ref FD1309PL - official pictorial FDI Cardiff postmark

Ref FD1310PL - official pictorial FDI Belfast postmark

And co-located non-pictorial postmarks for all except Tallents
House, same
reference numbers with suffix 'NP'